Two years ago, Erick Lindgren had his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet within his grasp. Unfortunately, he ran into the pheom of the 2006 WSOP, Jeff Madsen, at the final table of the $5,000 no-limit hold'em sixhanded event. He eventually lost to Madsen at that final table, and ever since he has moved to the forefront of the debate about who is the best player never to have won a bracelet.
Lindgren has put together a string of big wins in tournaments (two World Poker Tour titles, WPT Player of the Year for season II, and more than $5 million in career tournament winnings) and cash game success that is respected by both fans and professional players, but the first bracelet still eluded him.
Lindgren is now out of the debate, thanks to his big win at the $5,000 mixed hold'em event last night at the Rio. Lindgren faced a tough final table stacked with professionals and had to battle with Justin Bonomo heads up to claim his prize. Card Player caught up with Lindgren after his big win at the post-final table press conference.
Question: What does this do for your self confidence? Did you think that first bracelet could happen here, tonight?
Erick Lindgren: I’ll be honest, I felt great coming into the World Series, but things weren’t clicking those first couple of events. In fact, I played terribly, so I didn’t see this coming. I was really short coming into this event; I had already given up on this event and signed up for the other one. So, I played two events yesterday, and I hit a rush, and whenever you get hot at the World Series, you have a chance. And I never blew that chance and stayed in the game.
Q: Does this feel like the monkey is off of your back now?
EL: There’s no doubt … the old cliché [of getting the] monkey off of your back is fine, because it really did, and I didn’t even know it was there. I didn’t really feel it that much, but when I finally won and I saw that bracelet … there’s a lot of history in this bracelet, and that’s why it meant a lot.
Q: What about the tough competition in this field, and especially at this final table?
EL: Things aren’t what they used to be around here; I mean, these guys are really good. I was lucky they had limit involved, I think that was definitely my strength, and probably my key to winning tonight was the limit section.
Q: Did you key into the limit section both at the final table and the preliminary days of the tournament?
EL: Well, no, it just depends on who you’re playing with. Once Howard Lederer went out, and Pat Pezzin, who is a fantastic limit player, the other guys’ strengths are no-limit, so then it was time to accelerate the limit and play more hands. I just really knew where I was in every hand, I felt.
Q: Would you say that the biggest hand between you and Justin Bonomo was when you held A-Q to make a higher two pair?
EL: Yeah, the A-Q; I probably missed a bet right there, but I tried not to berate myself too much for not reraising him on the end and just stayed focused on the task at hand. That’s all you can do.
Q: Was the pressure mounting when it got down to heads up, considering the bracelet was so close? Did you ever flash back to ’06?
EL: Yeah, I was nervous; I thought I’d blow it again. I definitely got off to a great start against Jeff Madsen, and I thought I really had him on the ropes, but at that time I played a big coin flip.
Q: How does this win compare to your other big wins on the World Poker Tour? Poker players are judged by their bracelets, historically, so what does it personally mean to you?
EL: There’s just so much history at the World Series, and the other events like the World Poker Tour and European Poker Tour they’re building a lot of credibility, too … and the fact they’re worth more money than what I won today, typically. The history means a lot, especially with Chip Reese passing; I think this is a really important World Series for me, just because he was my hero, and if I can do well and 30 years down the line I have a career that Chip would be proud of, then I’ll be proud of myself.
Q: You said you were going to send your dad the bracelet. Tell me a little bit about that?
EL: My dad is my biggest fan, you know, and it was hard to get my parents to see that poker was the thing that I was going to do, but they accepted it, which was not an easy thing. They wanted me to graduate from college, and it wasn’t going to happen. My dad and my mom were right there … I didn’t mean to leave my mom out of it, but I really just want to give this one to my family. The first one is theirs, and the second one … I don’t care who has it.
